FLECK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does fleck mean? 

• FLECK (noun)
  The noun FLECK has 2 senses:

1. a small fragment of something broken off from the whole

2. a small contrasting part of something

  Familiarity information: FLECK used as a noun is rare.

• FLECK (verb)
  The verb FLECK has 1 sense:

1. make a spot or mark onto

  Familiarity information: FLECK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLECK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small fragment of something broken off from the whole

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

bit; chip; flake; fleck; scrap

Context example:

a bit of rock caught him in the eye

Hypernyms ("fleck" is a kind of...):

fragment (a piece broken off or cut off of something else)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fleck"):

matchwood (fragments of wood)

exfoliation; scale; scurf (a thin flake of dead epidermis shed from the surface of the skin)

scurf ((botany) a covering that resembles scales or bran that covers some plant parts)

sliver; splinter (a small thin sharp bit or wood or glass or metal)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A small contrasting part of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

dapple; fleck; maculation; patch; speckle; spot

Context example:

a fleck of red

Hypernyms ("fleck" is a kind of...):

marking (a pattern of marks)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "fleck"):

nebula ((pathology) a faint cloudy spot on the cornea)

facula (a bright spot on a planet)

facula; solar facula (a large bright spot on the sun's photosphere occurring most frequently in the vicinity of sunspots)

macula; sunspot (a cooler darker spot appearing periodically on the sun's photosphere; associated with a strong magnetic field)

mock sun; parhelion; sundog (a bright spot on the parhelic circle; caused by diffraction by ice crystals)

macula; macule (a patch of skin that is discolored but not usually elevated; caused by various diseases)

plaque ((pathology) a small abnormal patch on or inside the body)

fret; worn spot (a spot that has been worn away by abrasion or erosion)

splash (a patch of bright color)

pinpoint; speck (a very small spot)

Derivation:

fleck (make a spot or mark onto)

• FLECK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they fleck    ... he / she / it flecks   
Past simple: flecked   
Past participle: flecked   
-ing form: flecking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a spot or mark onto

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

blob; blot; fleck; spot

Context example:

The wine spotted the tablecloth

Hypernyms (to "fleck" is one way to...):

change surface (undergo or cause to undergo a change in the surface)

Verb group:

stain (produce or leave stains)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "fleck"):

splotch (blotch or spot)

defile; maculate; stain; sully; tarnish (make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically)

bespeckle; speckle (mark with small spots)

bespatter; spatter (spot, splash, or soil)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

fleck (a small contrasting part of something)

 Context examples 

Beneath lay a broad carpet of the softest and greenest moss, flecked over with fallen leaves, but yielding pleasantly to the foot of the traveller.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A floating fleck of paint is thought to have cracked a window on the International Space Station.

(Australia Developing Lasers to Track, Destroy Space Junk, VOA)

Sleeves rolled up from soap-flecked arms and a wet gunny-sack around her waist told of the task at which she had been caught.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The wind made talking difficult, and flecked the blood into the face.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He staggered limply about, the blood flowing from nose and mouth and ears, his beautiful coat sprayed and flecked with bloody slaver.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The aërial battle was over, and Thomas Mugridge, whining and gibbering, his mouth flecked with bloody foam, was brought down to deck.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

I, who knew him well, could tell from his wan cheeks and his restless fingers that he was at his wit’s ends what to do; but no stranger who observed his jaunty bearing, the flecking of his laced handkerchief, the handling of his quizzing glass, or the shooting of his ruffles, would ever have thought that this butterfly creature could have had a care upon earth.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She looked up at the lowering sky, down at the crimson bow already flecked with black, forward along the muddy street, then one long, lingering look behind, at a certain grimy warehouse, with 'Hoffmann, Swartz, & Co.' over the door, and said to herself, with a sternly reproachful air...

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

One gleam of light lifted into relief a half-submerged mast, on which sat a cormorant, dark and large, with wings flecked with foam; its beak held a gold bracelet set with gems, that I had touched with as brilliant tints as my palette could yield, and as glittering distinctness as my pencil could impart.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It was an ideal spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, which set an edge to a man’s energy.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)